Tiwaz

It's great money, but it's only great money if we spend it in the right area and player.

Can we get back to slagging off Eden rather than each other, please
We're all here to talk about all things Chelsea: if you can't do that without resorting to verbal abuse then please remove yourself from the situation.

As much as I'm growing to love TBO, I hope we can wrap the title up soon to give Lord Petr a shot at the PL clean sheets record

ITA
The thing is I think that's just next in his development, and it's going to be quite natural, not something he will develop, but will just happen. For the kid to start influencing big matches, he needs to influence matches in a consistent basis, something he didn't do yet until this season. He would influence a match or two and be a non-factor in the following one or two. A few times last season when we needed him the most in matches we couldn't break down the opponents' defense, he'd dribble without influencing or would just disappear (and I mean league games, not even UCL). This changed completely and now he's taking matters into his own hands match after match. And then which kind of match that is won't be relevant anymore, because he's developed into just making things happen when the whole team depends on his geniality, it's becoming second nature to him, and that's something people don't think much. Influencing matches is like a habit someone develops and once they start doing it constantly, it's only a matter of time (and occasion coming) for them to influence big, knock-out matches. If it's a habit, you just do it because you have the tools and skills and I think that's the point Eden just reached.
It's only a matter of a time for those matches to be here and he start to impact them as well. He's been nearly flawless in the last few months and I'm completely happy and proud of how he developed this season. I won't be surprised at all if next season because of a goal scored by him, an assist or a play he created by himself we take higher flights in UCL. He's ready for that now imo, which is why I don't worry if he will do it or not. I think up until last season he didn't have the ability to do it consistently and could do it once by luck or something - which I was okay with, the kid is still developing. I think he's now ready to influence any and every Chelsea match and it'll be a joy to watch (which doesn't mean he won't have an off day once in a while, or even a small/short bad patch of form, even the myths people love to mention in this thread have failed to influence important matches. With the amount of talent Argentina has had the last few years, it's criminal that Messi didn't take matters into his own hands and led them to win a WC - which will always be a dent in his claim to be the best player ever. He may be the best club player ever, with a system and a team built around him, with every single player brought and developed with the skills to offer him the best chances to shine with his incredible and rare talent, but he failed with a generation that wasn't that bad (8 years ago yes, but the last generation of Argentinean is a very good one).
So yeah, I'm happy with Eden. It doesn't really matter if he's better, equal or worse to Robben, Neymar, Ribery and who else people want to compare. The only thing that matters is that he's progressed immensely this season, he wears Blue, just got a new contract and will be even more deadly comes next season. All those players - from present and past that people mention on this thread are or were great in their own way. Some will value certain things/skills over others and that's why there are so many different opinions. I'm just happy we have such a special player playing for us and I don't see him leaving any time soon (if not at all).

Carlo is the coolest manager alive. Love the guy, but I think he is a Yes-Men that works great with egos. No man is better at dealing with elephant-sized egos. Look at what he did in 2009/10, managed to get the best out of Anelka, Drogba, Lampard, Terry, Malouda, and Ballack. You have to admit the egos of those men could fill the Pacific Ocean. Tactically alright but I don't think he could raise a rag-tag team like Atletico to La Liga champions. Simeone would fall apart at Real Madrid, Carlo would fail at Atletico.

Your opinion not universally agreed ,, AND show some respect for a Gentleman who gave us the Major Domestic double

In a brief trip down memory lane, TalkChelsea reminisce about some of the greatest moments in 2014.
From the numerous highs to the occasional lows, 2014 was another rollercoaster of a year for Chelsea Football Club - and here we recount some of our favourite memorable moments from the past twelve months.
January
1 - the Blues kick off 2014 with a superb 3-0 demolition of the season's surprise packages - Southampton - on New Year's Day. The fixture marks Juan Mata's 135th and final Chelsea appearance as he later makes a £37 million move to Manchester United.
19 - a Samuel Eto'o hat-trick helps the Blues to three points against United in front of a jubilant Stamford Bridge crowd.
31 - on transfer deadline day, Chelsea agree a deal to sign French centre-back Kurt Zouma from St Etienne, with the youngster remaining with les Verts until the end of the season.
February
3 - Branislav Ivanovic scores a stunning half-volley to help Chelsea to three points at the Etihad Stadium in one of the best team performances in recent memory. The Blues close to gap on Manchester City to mere goal difference at the top of the table.
8 - Eden Hazard scores the first treble of his Chelsea career as the Blues beat Newcastle 3-0 at the Bridge.
22 - After dominating Everton for 90 minutes without being able to find the back of the net, Frank Lampard scores a 94th-minute winner to - temporarily - move Chelsea to the top of the table.
March
1 - in Andre Schurrle's coming-of-age in a Chelsea shirt, the German scores a brilliant second-half hat-trick against Fulham to move the Blues four points clear at the top of the table, though Manchester City have two games-in-hand.
8 - the Blues follow up that derby victory with a 4-0 thrashing of Tottenham, with Eto'o laughing off José Mourinho's "old man" claims.
22 - further derby joy follows as Arsenal are destroyed in Arsene Wenger's 1000th game in charge by a 6-0 scoreline.
April
5 - Frank Lampard scores his 211th - and final - Chelsea goal in a routine win over Stoke. The goal is the 250th of Lampard's club career
8 - a dramatic 87th minute goal from Demba Ba sees Chelsea into the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, at the expense of Paris St-Germain. The French side had led 3-1 from the first leg, but Ba's goal saw the Blues through on away goals.
19 - the Blues' title hopes are all but over as Sunderland record an incredible - but also controversial - win at Stamford Bridge that ends Mourinho's 77-game unbeaten streak as Chelsea boss. Former Chelsea striker Fabio Borini - on loan from Liverpool - scored the winner from the penalty spot after a disputable decision by Mike Dean.
27 - Steven Gerrard's slip hands Chelsea a brilliant win at Liverpool. Ba scores again to effectively save football and set up a late title charge from Manchester City.
May
5 - though the first-team would end the season trophyless, the Blues' Youth Team battles from 3-2 down to win a dramatic FA Youth Cup final 7-6 on aggregate after a stunning 5-3 win over neighbours Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
13 - at the conclusion of the season, club captain John Terry signs a contract extension, with the defender winning three Premier League titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League with the Blues.
June
3 - Lampard announces his departure from Chelsea after 13 years, 648 appearances, 211 goals and eleven major honours.
12 - the departure of Lampard is soothed by the arrival of Cesc Fabrgeas from Barcelona for a reported £30 million. The former Arsenal man takes the number four shirt vacated by David Luiz's sale to PSG 24 hours later.
July
1 - Ashley Cole departs Chelsea after eight years with the club; winning one Premier League, 4 FA Cups, 1 League Cup and one Champions League. Eto'o, Henrique Hilário and Sam Hutchinson all join Cole in leaving the club. Veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer agrees a new contract on the same day.
15 - Diego Costa becomes the second major acquisition of the summer, joining from Atletico Madrid. Club-mate Filipe Luis joins Costa in swapping el Calderon for Stamford Bridge by agreeing to a move the following day, before making the move official on 18 July.
18 - Costa's arrival signals the end of Ba's Chelsea career as the Senegalese forward joins Besiktas for £4.7 million.
25 - a week after Ba's departure, a club legend in Didier Drogba re-signs for the Blues, two years after leaving as a European champion. The Ivorian's return allows Romelu Lukaku to end his Chelsea purgatory by permanently joining Everton, whilst Ryan Bertrand signs for Southampton on loan, replacing Manchester United-bound Luke Shaw.
August
18 - Costa scores on his debut as Chelsea outclass newly-promoted Burnley at Turf Moor.
30 - the Blues win a remarkable game against old boys Eto'o and Lukaku as Chelsea overcome Everton by a remarkable 6-3 scoreline - with Costa scoring in the 1st and 90th minutes to make it four goals in three games for his new club.
31 - after seeing £50 million flop Fernando Torres agree to a two-year loan deal at AC Milan, Chelsea bring in further striking cover with the signing of Loic Remy from Queens Park Rangers.
September
21 - after Schurrle had given Chelsea the lead against ten-man Manchester City, former Blues vice-captain Lampard comes off the bench to earn the champions a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the Etihad.
October
5 - goals from Hazard and Costa see Chelsea to another defeat of Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, moving them five points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
18 - Fabregas' first Premier League goal for Chelsea - capping a sweeping team move - earns the Blues another derby win, this time against Crystal Palace.
28 - Costa, Thibaut Courtois and Hazard are among the nominees for the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or, while Mourinho is nominated for the 2014 FIFA World Coach of the Year.
November
1 - Oscar's stunning goal sees the Blues to a 2-1 win against local rivals QPR, though Mourinho is critical of the Stamford Bridge crowd.
8 - the Blues come from behind to record a second league win at Anfield in 2014 - this time Costa does the honours of applying the coup de grâce as the Blues maintained a four-point gap over second-placed Southampton.
25 - Former Chelsea boss Roberto di Matteo suffers a 0-5 home defeat at the hand of his former employers as Terry's second-minute goal led the Blues to their biggest win on German soil.
December
3 - the Blues get a tricky-looking December off to the perfect start with a 3-0 mauling of Tottenham, opening a six-point lead.
26 - after ensuring they retain top spot over Christmas, the Blues record a Boxing Day victory over surprise package West Ham at Stamford Bridge.
28 - Hazard earns the Blues a point against high-flying Southampton to ensure the Blues enter 2015 as Premier League leaders by three points - though the Blues are indebted to Burnley's 2-2 draw away at Manchester City.
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John Terry and Diego Costa scored as Chelsea maintained their Premier League title charge with a sumptuous performance against high-flying West Ham.
The Blues maintained their lead at the top of the table with a terrific showing that highlighted both their defensive resilience and trademark dynamism and attacking flair.
Thibaut Courtois becomes the first goalkeeper to prevent the Hammers from scoring on the road this season, and between the Belgian and fellow shot-stopper Petr Cech, the Blues have now managed six clean sheets in their last season league fixtures.
It was at the other end of the pitch, however, that one of the game's starring performers stole a fair portion of the limelight, with Hammers keeper Adrian mirroring his superb showing from the 0-0 draw in last season's corresponding fixture.
The former Real Betis man made a string of excellent saves to deny the vast Blue tide that threatened to sweep across the West Ham rearguard, but he was helpless to prevent Terry from scoring his second goal of the week on the half-hour.
And when Costa jinked inside and then outside again, the Spanish international sat three of Adrian's defenders on their backsides before threading the ball into the far corner with an exquisite finish, for what is the striker's thirteenth goal in fourteen Premier League appearances since his big money move from Atletico Madrid in the summer.
If Monday's 2-0 win at Stoke showcased Chelsea's physicality and ability to dig deep and grind out a win, then this case proved the antithesis of that showing.
The Blues were absolutely magnificent in the first half, and their slender one-goal lead heading into the interview belied their superiority. Through Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas, José Mourinho's side were able to govern the midfield, allowing for Willian, Eden Hazard, Oscar and Costa to tear the Hammers apart with some gorgeous interplay.
The first interchange between the Blues' front four almost paid immediate dividends when Oscar, clean through on goal, wasted a glorious early opening with his miscued his volley horribly over the crossbar.
That chance had come about when Willian's cross missed its intended target - Costa - and caught Oscar almost by surprise, but there was no accident in the combination that brought about Chelsea's next glaring opportunity, though the pair that produced it might have raised eyebrows.
Following a Fabregas corner, Terry teased in a cross to the back past that Gary Cahill did well to attack, but the England international failed to keep his header on target.
Another corner, this time slightly more well worked, then allowed Cahill his second chance of the game. From Fabregas' intelligent pass, the former Bolton man put his foot through the ball. Whilst his shot from eight yards had all the necessary power to beat Adrian, it lacked the precision required and the Spanish goalkeeper stood tall to parry.
Oscar then floated a free-kick wide before Fabregas was more successful in at least testing the goalkeeper, but his tame effort rarely looked like posing Adrian too much trouble.
The next Chelsea opportunity certainly did produce the best of the Spaniard, as Willian, dribbling some forty yards before shooting, saw his drilled effort take a slight nick off of James Collins. That deflection made things awkward for the goalkeeper, who still managed to parry.
Chelsea did finally manage to stick the ball home beyond the goalkeeper when Terry intelligently got on the end of Costa's flick-on. All stemming from another Fabregas corner, the Chelsea skipper poked home for the second consecutive game as the Blues opened the scoring through another set-piece, almost with delicious irony.
Five minutes later Adrian made a stunning low save to deny Matic, who, given space on the edge of the box, had the time to pick his spot. At full stretch, the goalkeeper turned the Serb's dipping strike around the post.
Chelsea deserved to be more than 1-0 up, and they would have one more chance before the interval to increase their lead, and but only for a better pass from Branislav Ivanovic would they have been able to do so - instead the Serbian's poor pass meant Costa could only shin over a half-volley with the goal at his mercy.
Before the break, though, Ivanovic took a tumble in the penalty area after negligible contact by Andy Carroll - the striker's biggest contribution to this game. Replays showed the Serbia captain certainly exaggerated any touch there may have been, and he was lucky to avoid a yellow card for simulation.
That seemed to fire up West Ham, who came out with renewed vigour after the break. The introductions of Alex Song and Diafra Sakho gave the Hammers more steel in the middle of the park, and Sam Allardyce's team were able to maintain a spell of possession for the first time in the game.
But their good rebuilding work was undone when Cheikhou Kouyate was stripped of the ball with consumate ease by Matic, who fed Hazard. The Belgian, who minutes before had produced another save out of the goalkeeper, dribbled forward, and teed Costa who showed great composure to slot home.
The Chelsea number 19 turned one way then the other, sat three West Ham players on the deck before firing with laser precision into the back of the net - Adrian, this time, helpless to prevent it.
At the other end, Courtois, a virtual spectator, was given his first test of the afternoon when Sakho burst clean through straight from the restart, but the Belgian made a fine save when one-on-one to preserve his clean sheet.
Meanwhile, Hammers goalkeeper Adrian continued his one-man act of defiance to pull off a special fingertip save from another Oscar effort. The Brazilian shot from fully 30 yards after Hazard was upended, but the goalkeeper was able to just get enough on the ball to divert it over the woodwork.
Adrian then blocked an effort at Matic's feet before Winston Reid's brave tackle smothered a shot from Oscar that seemed destined for the roof of the net. Fabregas then saw a curling effort miss the target by a matter of inches. This was the resumption of Chelsea's first half dominance.
But that superiority was cut short by three substitutions by Mourinho, whilst Allardyce made one final throw of the dice by introducing Morgan Amalfitano. After heading a half-chance a foot or so wide of the post, the ex-Marseilles man then hit the base of the post after turning Ivanovic inside-out.
There were a number of late half-chances for Chelsea to improve their goal difference, with substitute Didier Drogba's long-range dipper the best of those opportunities, but in the end Chelsea saw out the game in relative comfort to maintain their three-point advantage at the top of the Premier League table.
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F. Perez: I offer £50m for HazardRoman A.: Sure I'll send the paperwork.
F. Perez: Great.
Roman A.: Sent it.
F. Perez: Who's Thorgan?

I would be willing to let them have Hazard for £50 million ... Thorgan could do well there

I'm not sure of there's a thread elsewhere or maybe a couple of disparate ones about certain members of the board/club hierarchy but I thought now would be a good time to post a thread giving them some credit.....because they got plenty of stick a while back, perhaps rightly so.
But it's just been quite astounding to see how they've turned us from the club getting mugged off on transfers to a club who buy great players for value (Matic being the prime example) whilst selling fringe players not just for profit, but for fees bordering on extortionate (Mata, Luiz). Not only that but players like Courtois and Lukaku have doubled or perhaps even tripled in value whilst our commercial revenues continue to increase and we comply with FFP.
So I thought it would be interesting to see what other people think, in light of the performance of people like Woodward at United and the criticism Gourlay, Buck, Emenalo et al received in the past.

QPR manager, Harry Redknapp, has confirmed in his prematch inteview today, that his 27 year-old striker, Loic Remy, will be joining Chelsea before the end of the transfer window.
 
This announcement by Redknapp comes after the Frenchman was completely left out of his team's matchday squad against Sunderland.
 
Remy, who scored 14 goals in his 26 appearances for Newcastle on loan from QPR last season, has been heavily linked with Chelsea for the past couple of days as a replacement for Fernando Torres who has left Stamford Bridge to join AC Milan on a 2-year loan deal.
 
Known for his explosive pace and clinical finishing, Loic offers an excellent option off the bench, and a good bargain for the reported 8.5m.
 
Another excellent piece of business by the club this summer
 
 
 
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I joined these forums to celebrate Torres' departure.

In 2005 Milan were the best team in world football. Just hope the Premier League never collapses the way Serie A has, mid-table clubs like United signing Di Maria will help.

Someone start a kickstarter "Torres' wages for AC Milan" please.

Petr LAD

The club really cannot win can they?Let players get old and stagnate (like Malouda, Anelka, Essien) we are too sentimental and succumbing to player power, act in advance in replacing a player and we're cunts disrespecting players.
It seems like so many are happy to constantly contradict themselves for the sake of having a whine.

Hahah.

People slating José can suck my cock.

I've got another. I prefer this one and I hope this is the one that actually happens in the end.

Moyes is gone

Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona at home by 1 goal to nil (2-1 on aggregate) to confirm a semi-final match-up against Chelsea in the Champions League. Everyone knows what Atletico are all about. They work very hard and incredibly well organized. Moreover their team is very well balanced, from the man between the sticks to the prolific scorer up front. Let's try dissecting how Diego Simeone master-minded an important European victory using the effective method of aggressive pressing.
Like previously, the points I mention here are open for discussion. They can be quite wrong as well.
 

Atletico since the start of this season, have used a number of tactical variations. This has aided them in different phases of this rather successful year for a club that hails from Madrid and doesn't have it's name starting with Real. However now they seem to have stuck up with one rather successful on paper formation. The classic 4-2-3-1.
Atletico are a perfect blend of reactive and stabilized tactical evolution through 90 minutes. They have a set of core principles to which they add finer points depending upon their opponents. This makes them harder to read before a game.
A stable back 4 with full-backs that are disciplined but very attack minded. Most crosses come from them or Villa on the other side ( Atletico's first goal an example) . In the middle we have BTB kind off player and a defensive connector who can get forward. He's the marker for others to look at and organize themselves.
In the middle three, we have two play-makers on the side. The left one mostly acting like a pure winger while the other prefers to cut inside and dictate play with the deep midfielders. In the #10 area we have a player who links up well with the poacher up front. His aim is to be physical and let his presence be known to help the other players rather than create chances.
While transitioning into defense, Atletico move into a 4-4-2 overdrive. This helps them set up springboards for counter-attack while making sure that possession based teams will struggle to open them up. Their pressing depends on various factors.
Open.
Spoiler
 

1. The closer you get, the more aggressive the pressing gets. Not-so-welcome pressing.
2. If Atletico have just lost the ball, there's a period of time in which they press high to recover quickly before their opponent organizes themselves. Once they're organized, they fall back deep. We-want-our-ball-back pressing.
3. If the opponent is not well organized they'll suddenly press aggressively after being quiet for a long period time. Intelligent pressing.
They also press players onto the wings and then have multiple players jump on them to scavenge the ball out. Very effective when the remaining midfield players block out passing options.
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Spoiler  


Here we can have a look at how Atletico react to a situation. Their midfield adjusts itself while their pressing system is spearheaded by two players . The encircled player is the one about to be picked out. The Atleti players have to be careful in ensuring that they don't open up gaps as you can see a player moving behind the two strikers dropping deep. If that pass is made, Atletico will instantly press high.
 
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Spoiler  


 
Here we can clearly see the midfield adjusting itself and also how intelligent their organization is. This is the perfect example of a gutter system. The two players who previously spearheaded  the pressing , separate from each other. One of them follows the ball and a midfielder joins them. To compensate the midfielder's absence , the second member of the spear head drops deep, as the remaining three members of the packed midfield adjust themselves again to accommodate him more centrally. That way they can also quickly counter-attack from their natural positions.
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Spoiler  

 

 
Now we have a different kind of instance that glorifies the previous principle. From a very structured and deep defensive organization, Atletico suddenly push towards the side that the ball is played, once again just to isolate the ball-playing full-back. This closes down clear cut opportunities for the opposition player to combine. Even while pushing, notice how only one midfielder is running right at the ball along with the Atleti full-back dropping a bit deep. This would help Atletico make sure that no clear cut gaps are open to be exploited.
 
Open.
Spoiler
 

Here we have an example of Atletico just loosing the ball. The first player who is pressing on the ball when the gif starts is the proverbial first phase. The next player who presses is called the third phase. Notice how the player , who is a few yards behind the second presser , instinctively runs towards the ball and then hesitates. He is the proverbial third phase. The midfield's aim is to shut down and block lanes while one of their members press aggressively.
If the ball isn't won, it's forced sideways and the strategy changes.
 
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Spoiler  


This will help us find out how quick Atletico are to react when a mistake is made. After a phase of pressing, Atletico are highly unorganized. This is Barcelona's best chance to hit them hard, but they make a stupid mistake of lobbing it up. Atletico know that with their structure, they can't always win back and combine with short passes. But when the ball is up, there is always a 50% chance of winning it back. The chances increase if they press higher.
In the gif, they are in a structure reminiscent to a 4-2-4. More open than Liverpool's defense on a rainy Friday evening at Stoke. To make sure it doesn't become a huge problem, the full-back presses. A midfielder also helps out at the same time. With this they win the ball back and have an opportunity at creating a counter-attack with 4 upfront.
 
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Another fine example of Atletico in the not-so-welcome pressing phase. Notice how it's man-to-man. At the start of the gif we see an Atletico player pressing a Barcelona player. Right after the ball is passed away, he follows and sticks on to the player.The two other press high on their own men, forcing Barcelona to play back or place a risky pass through the middle. In the orange section, we can see how Xavi tries to create a passing option and in turn an Atletico player moves  closer to him.
In short, Atletico are very organized. What separates them from the rest is that they know what they're doing in highly pressurized situations. They do make errors, but make sure they don't turn into a complete mistakes. Though what they haven't faced yet is a team that plays in a quite similar fashion to them. Expect fire-works, and hope they are blue.
I'll leave you with this fantastic gif of a slide-tackel on the backdrop of a brilliant structure being held.
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There's always the chance that Courtois does a WWF-style move in the 90th minute of the second leg. Score is 0-0, extra time is looming, Torres takes a shot from 12 yards which eventually reaches Courtois's hands....the players move up the field, Courtois looks long then all of a sudden drops the ball to his feet, turns towards the Matthew Harding stand and kicks the ball high into the net.
The crowd goes wild, the Atletico players are bemused and Courtois runs to the corner flag, tears off his Atletico shirt and reveals......
a Chelsea shirt!!!!
Platini runs to the pitch remonstrating with the ref when all of a sudden Bruce Buck chair-shots him to the back of the head and Ron Gourlay belly-flops him, all the while Mourinho just nodding his head and smiling.
Then Simeone puts on one of those Mexican wrestling masks and everything gets a bit weird.....
This is why he can't play against us....it's so obvious when you think about it.